The Left Wing

Will Slattery and Luke Fitzgerald are joined by Rúaidhrí O'Connor to discuss Ireland's team selection for the Six Nations finale against Scotland. Iain Henderson, Jack Conan and Mack Hansen all start as Andy Farrell's side look to win a first Six Nations title since 2018 - provided England can do Ireland a favour against France. Meanwhile, Scotland have dropped out-half Finn Russell and have opted...

On this week's episode of The Left Wing, Will Slattery and Luke Fitzgerald are joined by former England prop Alex Corbisiero to look back on Ireland's record win in Twickenham. Andy Farrell's side are still in contention for the title ahead of Saturday's game against Scotland, but need Eddie Jones' side to do Ireland a favour in Paris against France. The lads kick off the discussion by taking a lo...

Irish Independent rugby writers Rúaidhrí O'Connor and David Kelly join Sinead Kissane from Twickenham to reflect on Ireland's Six Nations win over 14-man England. Luke and Will return for the regular Left Wing show for more rugby discussion and analysis next Wednesday. Listen and follow on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts from. For more Left Wing episodes, visit the show p...

On the latest Left Wing Extra, Sinead Kissane is joined by Luke Fitzgerald and Rúaidhrí O’Connor to discuss the Ireland team to face England in Twickenham on Saturday. The big guns have been recalled for the crunch clash with Andrew Conway, Bundee Aki and Peter O'Mahony making the first XV. As expected, Johnny Sexton returns as No.10 replacing Joey Carbery while Hugo Keenan is recalled and Mack Ha...

On this week's episode of The Left Wing, Will Slattery and Luke Fitzgerald are joined by Rúaidhrí O'Connor to look ahead to Ireland's Six Nations showdown with England on Saturday. The show kicks off with the news that Johnny Sexton has signed a new deal to take him up to the 2023 World Cup, and the lads debate how Andy Farrell should manage his captain between now and the tournament in France. Th...

On the latest episode of The Left Wing podcast, Will Slattery and Luke Fitzgerald are joined by Ian Madigan to discuss Ireland's win over Italy and the campaign to date. Ian and Luke agree that although Andy Farrell's side have had a good tournament, last Sunday was a sloppy day at the office. Luke thinks that the team forced things too much against 13 men, while Ian gives his assessment on how he...

Sinéad Kissane hosted the Left Wing Live from the Aviva Stadium with Cian Tracey and Dave Kelly giving their post-match analysis of Ireland's 57-6 thrashing of Italy. Don't forget to listen to Luke and Will's weekly analysis and views on the Left Wing with new shows released every Wednesday. Listen and follow wherever you get your podcasts from. For more, visit the show page at: www.independent.ie...

On the latest Left Wing Extra, Sinead Kissane is joined by Cian Tracey and Dave Kelly to discuss the Ireland team to face Italy on Sunday. The main news is Joey Carbery keeps his place on the team with Johnny Sexton on the bench and expected to make a second half appearance. Elsewhere, Ulster’s Michael Lowry will make his international debut and Ryan Baird is handed his first championship start. F...

On this week’s Left Wing, Sinead Kissane is joined by Luke Fitzgerald, Cian Tracey and former Leinster and Italy international, Ian McKinley, to look ahead to Ireland’s clash against Italy at the weekend. It’s a case of how many points the Irish team can rack up says Luke and Cian, with getting the bonus point and avoiding injury the real focus with the crunch game against England in Twickenham st...

On this week's episode of The Left Wing, Will Slattery and Luke Fitzgerald are joined by Fergus McFadden to look back at Ireland's defeat to France in Paris. Andy Farrell's side came up just short at the Stade de France, with the decision to kick for the posts in the closing minutes proving contentious. Fergus thinks it was the right call while Luke says that James Ryan should have opted to stick...

Ireland suffered a major Six Nations blow when they were beaten by a powerful France 30-24. Sinead Kissane analyses the action with Irish Independent reporters David Kelly and Cian Tracey who were live from the Stade de France. Don't forget to listen to Luke and Will's weekly analysis and views on the Left Wing with new shows released every Wednesday. For more Left Wing episodes, visit the show pa...

On this week's episode of The Left Wing Extra, Will Slattery is joined by Cian Tracey and Rúaidhrí O’Connor to discuss the Ireland team to face France. The big news is Johnny Sexton’s injury, which means that Joey Carbery will make his first Six Nations start in Paris. Is Carbery ready for the step up? The lads debate Ireland’s chances with a new out-half, whether they have the power to match Fran...

On this week's episode of The Left Wing, Will Slattery and Luke Fitzgerald are joined by Cian Tracey and Benjamin Kayser to discuss all the Six Nations action. Will and Luke kick things off by looking back at Scotland's dramatic win over England, before Cian joins to discuss Ireland's bonus-point win over Wales. The lads all agree that Ireland's ball-playing forwards give them a big edge over the...

On this bonus episode of the Left Wing, Will Slattery is joined by Rúaidhrí O'Connor and Cian Tracey with their reactions to the Ireland team announcement. Connacht's Mack Hansen will make his debut on the wing against Wales on Saturday in what is a huge call by Ireland head coach Andy Farrell. Elsewhere, Joey Carbery has fended off Jack Carty's claim to the back-up ten slot, while James Hume will...

On this week's episode of The Left Wing, Will Slattery and Luke Fitzgerald are joined by Rúaidhrí O'Connor and Welsh legend Tom Shanklin to look ahead to the Six Nations. Rud joins first and is bullish on Ireland's chances, tipping Andy Farrell's side for title glory off the back of a strong November and the form of key men. The lads discuss how Ireland should handle the out-half situation, the ke...

On this week’s episode of The Left Wing, Will Slattery and Luke Fitzgerald are joined by former Connacht back row Eoin McKeon to discuss all the weekend’s Champions Cup action. All four Irish provinces are into the knockout stage after an exciting final round, and the lads kick off with what Connacht need to do to kick on after another dramatic defeat. The chat then turns to how Leinster are farin...

On the latest episode of The Left Wing, Will Slattery and Luke Fitzgerald are joined by Cian Tracey to go over all the latest rugby news. The lads kick off by discussing the Ireland Six Nations squad announcement, as Andy Farrell makes some interesting decisions. The chat then moves on to the Champions Cup action, starting with Leinster’s record-setting win over Montpellier - is there really anyth...

On this week’s episode of The Left Wing, Will Slattery and Luke Fitzgerald are joined by Gavin Mairs of The Daily Telegraph to discuss the landscape of English rugby after a tumultuous Covid year. First, Will and Luke discuss Munster vs Ulster and Johann van Graan’s short-term future. Then Gavin joins the lads and they chat about whether the English sides still value Europe and if the Premiership...

On the latest episode of The Left Wing, Will Slattery and Luke Fitzgerald are joined by Rúaidhrí O'Connor to go over all the latest rugby news. After a Christmas period light on on-field action, there's only Connacht vs Munster to discuss - and none of the lads were impressed with the standard on show. While Andy Friend's side continue to build, Luke and Rud both have major questions about Munster...

On the last Left Wing of the year, Will Slattery and Luke Fitzgerald are joined by Rúaidhrí O'Connor to discuss all the latest rugby news. For the second year in a row, Munster's St Stephen's Day clash at home to Leinster has been shelved due to Covid - Rud gives a state of play in what is a messy situation for Leo Cullen's side. The lads then turn their attention to Munster's win over Castres, wh...

On this week's episode of The Left Wing, Will Slattery and Luke Fitzgerald are joined by Cian Tracey to pick through all the latest news. The lads start off with a discussion about Munster's future after the announcement that head coach Johann van Graan will leave at the end of the season - is it time for Ronan O'Gara to finally come home? On the pitch, Munster enjoyed a bumper win at Wasps last S...

On this week's episode of The Left Wing, Will Slattery and Luke Fitzgerald are joined for a bumper Champions Cup preview by Cian Tracey. Will starts things off by asking Cian and Luke who the best team in Europe is right now - the consensus seems to be that it is between Toulouse and Leinster. For Leo Cullen's side, it is coming up to four years since they last won the Champions Cup - how much pre...

On this week's episode of The Left Wing, Rúaidhrí O'Connor and Luke Fitzgerald are joined by The Belfast Telegraph Rugby Correspondent Jonathan Bradley to talk about Munster's Covid-19 nightmare in South Africa, Ulster's big win at the RDS and Connacht's superb performance against Ospreys. With news that a large number of the Irish province's travelling party are expected to return home overnight,...

On this week's episode of The Left Wing, Will Slattery and Luke Fitzgerald are joined by Ulster out-half Ian Madigan to look back at the autumn internationals. Ireland finished November with three impressive wins from three games, and Ian was very pleased to see how the team's style of play has developed. After discussing Ireland's win over Argentina, the lads move on to the big question after the...

On the latest episode of The Left Wing, Will Slattery and Luke Fitzgerald are joined by Cian Tracey and Ruaidhrí O'Connor to look back at Ireland's impressive win over the All Blacks. Will kicks off by asking Rud what his big take-away from the game is – and he was left very impressed by how dominant Andy Farrell's team were. Cian thinks the bravery with the ball-in-hand shown by Ireland was notew...